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College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate Abby Hartley embraces the complementary relationship between science and art

Some children gaze up in wonder at the boundless night sky and the universe of stars scattered in it鈥攃ounting them, wishing on them, seeing shapes in them and weaving fantastical stories.

But not Abby Hartley. Abby gazed up and pondered death by black hole.

What if they (Abby uses they/them pronouns) fell into one of the massive and mysterious objects? What is the math underlying spaghettification? (Don鈥檛 ask.) (Actually, do ask: It鈥檚 the vertical stretching and horizontal compression of objects鈥攊ncluding people鈥攆alling into black holes.) Would they be grateful for the deeper understanding of time dilation鈥攐r the phenomenon of time passing at different rates for different observers鈥攁s they were drawn farther and farther into the black hole?

So, Abby pursued an astronomy and astrophysics education at the 精品SM在线影片 to get answers. Named the College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate for the fall 2023 semester, they are graduating this week with their honors thesis, 鈥淭he First Quiescent Galaxies in TNG300," .

鈥淎bby is a brilliant, hard-working, organized and frighteningly mature young scientist,鈥� notes Erica Nelson, a 精品SM在线影片 assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences and Abby鈥檚 research mentor and thesis advisor. 鈥淭hey are already operating at the level of a senior graduate student. I have no doubt that Abby will be a leader in the field.鈥�

Which is a profoundly meaningful recognition of their hard work and expression of confidence in all that they have yet to achieve, but here鈥檚 what Abby considers a crowning accomplishment from the previous three and a half years: When Abby published their first research paper鈥攜es, first, meaning there鈥檚 more than one鈥攖heir mom proofread it before publication and their dad printed it out after. And like the proud parents they are, they stuck it听on the refrigerator.

鈥淢y dad even highlighted some parts,鈥� Abby recalls with a laugh. 鈥淗e said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 totally understand all of it, but it鈥檚 so cool.鈥� Just knowing that I鈥檝e always had that support from my family and friends has been so important. It鈥檚 a big part of why I鈥檝e been able to accomplish what I have so far.鈥�

Wanting to know more math

Speaking of Abby鈥檚 dad, he gets a decent amount of the credit for Abby鈥檚 first steps into science. An avid fan of science himself, he shared his passion for it by passing along the books he鈥檇 read to his adolescent child. Abby was the kid in middle school clutching a copy of The Elegant Universe and wishing they knew more math.

It wasn鈥檛 all science, though. Abby also cultivated a deep love for writing and art, nurtured by a voracious appetite for science fiction, and found as much fulfillment in pens and drawing paper as they found in the depths of differential geometry and tensor calculus.

For a long time, though, Abby thought it had to be one or the other鈥攖hat declaring a major in astrophysics meant relegating art to the thing they did at home if they had time.

There was no particular moment when Abby realized that art and science can exist in symbiosis鈥攁s hand in glove rather than as two parallel but untouching tracks鈥攂ut studying relativity helped.

鈥淚nitially, the rules of math and physics can seem pretty rigid,鈥� Abby says. 鈥淏ut when you get to relativity, things bend a little bit more. Things are a little more fluid, and that鈥檚 been really exciting to me.鈥�

So, while studying extragalactic astronomy as a member of , Abby also tapped back into their love for art, designing an astrophysics art outreach project mentored by Zachory Berta-Thompson, a professor of astrophysics. As part of their project, Abby created digital illustrations highlighting the accomplishments of women and minorities in astrophysics; several are currently featured on the digital screens in common spaces in the Duane Physics building.

鈥淭oo many times, I鈥檝e found myself to be the only non-male audience member in a seminar or presenter at a student talk series,鈥� Abby says. 鈥淭his inequity can be disheartening, but it has never dulled my passion for science. My goal as an astrophysicist is to help humanity unravel the mathematical mysteries of the cosmos, and to show other young scientists from historically underrepresented groups that they, too, belong in this field.

鈥淲e are all multifaceted human beings, and we shouldn鈥檛 feel pressured to stifle one passion to pursue a career in another. I was a scientist when I gave talks about my research into the first galaxies to stop forming stars in a cosmological simulation, but I was also a scientist when I painted a space-themed mural on the wall of a cat cafe.鈥�

Abby contacted some of the scientists they featured in their art, including and , and heard back from them, 鈥渟o I got to talk with some of my personal heroes in astrophysics, which has been pretty amazing,鈥� Abby says.

Pursue creative outlets

For their thesis research, Abby鈥攚hose educational path has focused on theoretical astrophysics鈥攃onsidered their scientific progression that began with black holes, extended to extragalactic astronomy and landed in quiescent galaxies, or galaxies that stop forming stars.

鈥淭hey have dust, so in theory they should be perpetually creating stars,鈥� Abby says. 鈥淲hy aren鈥檛 they?

Using simulations from the , a suite of cosmological galaxy-formation simulations, Abby and their research colleagues predicted that the first quiescent galaxies located by the James Webb Space Telescope will host massive black holes.

During their research, Abby contacted noted astrophysicist at Harvard University, who became a study co-author and invited them to present their paper at Harvard. Another of Abby鈥檚 favorite memories of their studies is practicing their presentation at 2 a.m. with their mom, after going to a Beyonce concert several hours earlier, then flying to Massachusetts later that morning to present at Harvard.

Because science should be fun, Abby says, and because they defended their thesis on Halloween, they dressed as Howl Pendragon from Howl鈥檚 Moving Castle to do so and invited their thesis committee members to come in costume as well (one member came in a Starfleet uniform from Star Trek).

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 probably one of the most important things I鈥檝e learned, that science is challenging and exciting and fun,鈥� Abby says.

Last week, Abby submitted 11 graduate school applications and hopes to begin graduate studies next fall, which the ultimate goal of becoming a university professor and researcher. In the meantime, they will continue working with Nelson as a full-time researcher studying brand-new James Webb Space Telescope data. The one bummer is, due to scheduling听conflicts, needing to give up a beloved job as a part-time barista and shelter worker at Purrfect Pause cat caf茅 in Boulder. That鈥檚 where they painted the space-themed mural, which features their cat, Oreo.

So, if Abby could offer advice to anyone considering a leap into science, they would 鈥渆ncourage other students to pursue their creative outlets alongside their technical research, so that no one feels like they have to leave a part of themselves behind to do scientific work.鈥�

Abby Hartley creates digital art highlighting the听the accomplishments of women and minorities in astrophysics